Skepticism from a Godless Conservative

Atheists Should “Shut Up and Go Away”

I’ve witnessed the sentiment that as athesits, we should just shut up and go away. I usually won’t attempt to even have a discussion or friendly debate with those people because I don’t believe that anything I say would actually change their opinion.

I do wonder why they have that opinion. Of course atheists receives a lot of media attention when court cases are iled to prevent government from promoting a religion, Christianity, over any other.

I honestly don’t care about anyone’ faith in general. Anyone is free to worship as they choose. Those same people do not have a right to try and impose their belifs, whether openly or by some sort of subterfuge, on their fellow citizens.I would say that most Americans would find that what the several organizations involved in these lawsuits as going over the line. These same people really don’t care about specific religious displays on public property in their community, or if prayers are said in public schools (Christain prayers), or any other religious display that openly advocates a particular belief.

I often think about if these same people would object to Muslim or Jewish displays in their communities? Think about the city council always opening a session with just one of those religions prayers. Or having Muslim only displays on public property during Muslim holidays. Jewish?

I believe there would be public outrage. But when atheists object to specific Christain bias, those same people just want us to shut up and go away. Ive even hear people add to that, “This is our country”. Whose country? Christians only? No one else need apply, I guess.

But ahtiests would be, and actually do, object to bias toward any other religion as well. There are atheists in other countries that campaign for actual freedon of religion in Muslim majority countries where they are subject to imprisonment and even death.

Christians in this country decry those countries because they persecute people of other faiths. I support that, but those same people object to their faith, being being placed under the same scrutiny.

The framers placed the Exclusion CLause at the beggining of the First Amendment, precisely because of this. They did not want the new United States to become like other countries (e.g., England: Anglican, France: Catholic) and have people persecuted for beliefs that did not conform.

No, we won’t shut up and go away. We will continue to stand for everyone’s Constituional rights.